Gérard Depardieu Believes His Occasional Drunkenness Is Endearing to France

Just because Gérard Depardieu vowed not to speak to the press after claiming to be hurt by the publicity circus that followed his split from France last December does not mean that Gérard Depardieu will neverspeak to the press. As evidenced by a sprawling new interview with France’s Le Journal du Dimanche, the promise simply meant that he will be choosier about his press opportunities. And when he does grant the rare interview, he will begin it by re-dedicating himself to his erstwhile cause. “It is true that I no longer speak to the press and I’m doing very well,” Depardieu said, ironically to the press.

But we are not here to point out the inconsistencies in Depardieu’s public statements; we—devoted Depardieu documentarians—are here to highlight the most brilliant moments in this new interview (translated from the original French). Among them:

I don’t know who wouldn’t love to be loved. I didn’t want to be loved 100%, because that’s doubtful. But having a 30% disenchantment rating—that’s fine with me.

He thinks that the French are fond of his occasional inebriation:

I think I correspond to an image that the French love. That of someone who’s a rebel, who shakes things up, who is sometimes drunk. It’s a little bit this hooligan spirit that Putin really likes. Which also appeals to many people here. . . .

I’m above all a man who hasn’t aged and who has had his head on his shoulders. Drunk sometimes, but my drunkenness is part of my excess.

He has started a passport collection:

I have seven passports from several countries that I love. . . . I’m also going to ask for one from Algeria and other countries too. It would save me from asking for visas, because I consider myself, I repeat, to be a free man and a citizen of the world.